You know the fence around his home doesn't have any holes...

The latest and greatest in negative YouTube ads coming out of the Republican primary in the KS-02.

And, no, we had nothing to do with this one...but we're happy to share it with all of ya!

We'd call this a "touche" from the Jenkins camp.

We should make a graphic to show the growing bloodiness...

Right Now 2008

A new video- not from us and not exclusively about Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, but it does talk about our little blog and Nancy, too, so, heck, we'll post it!

Nancy Boyda's FISA speech transcript

The following is the transcript of the video of Congresswoman Nancy Boyda's speech on FISA.

You've heard that there are three kinds of lies? Lies, damned lies, and statistics?

... If that's the lies, then you know what's coming next. Well, we're talking about damned lies, and when it comes to damned lies, we're talking about the debate that right is going on, and that's on FISA. This is a hundred times more sinister, it's a hundred times more frightening, and I believe a hundred times more shameful.

You've probably seen the TV ads that are attacking me right now. Ominous pictures and scary, scary music. Here's their line. "Midnight. February 16th. The law that lets intelligence agencies intercept al-Qaeda communications expires."

Well, in case you're wondering, that would be what is called a damned lie.

(laughter)

It's such a damned lie that Newsweek ran a fact check piece – you saw it last week – and it just tore [the ad] to shreds.

These are not my words, these are Newsweek's: "misleading," "a play to fear" – come on, we didn't need Newsweek to tell us that this was a play to fear – and "simply not true." These are Newsweek's words, not mine.

So let's talk about what's really going on, because this is the very core, the very core of our democracy. The main law used to wiretap terrorists is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act – that's called FISA. Make no mistake: It is in full force today. Intelligence agencies have every right and today they are wiretapping any terrorist in the world at any time, anywhere. And I personally thank God for that. My number one priority is keeping your family and my family safe.

Nobody, nobody disagrees that we should aggressively wiretap terrorists. Here's the question – and let's reframe this argument. It's not about wiretapping terrorists. Here's the question: Do we want the United States government wiretapping Americans without a warrant? Ladies and gentlemen, that is the issue that is at stake here. I say absolutely no. We do not want the United States government spying on Americans without a warrant.

But President Bush says that's OK, and right now, this is right down party lines. And the Republicans in Congress are sticking with him. In fact, he has threatened to veto any FISA bill that requires meaningful court oversight. "Get rid of the annoying judicial branch. Get rid of that annoying Congressional branch. All we need is oversight within the executive branch."

Folks, the reason that we have the FISA bill in the first place – who knows? Thank you: Richard Milhous Nixon. Watergate. Nixon was caught spying on Americans, and that's where this bill came from in the first place. If we forget history, we are doomed to repeat it. This is something that we don't need to be told; we don't need our mothers to remind us that if we forget our history, we will be doomed to repeat it.

The FISA court must be flexible enough to deal with emergencies. And I strongly support a bill that would allow the executive branch to wiretap anyone, including Americans – to wiretap anyone, anywhere in the world, and even without waiting for judicial approval. Here's the policy: Wiretap first, ask permission later. But here's where we differ. We give 14 days – that's two weeks – for the intelligence agencies to go back to a court, to make sure that we have two branches of government.

Wiretap first, ask permission later. It's a good strategy, and it will keep America safe. But unfortunately, the damned lies just continue.

Yesterday, you probably heard, the Kansas Republican Party launched a new radio ad attacking my stance on FISA. If you haven't heard it, they're telling listeners to call my office, and – this is so unbelievable. You're supposed to ask the question, which side am I on?

Am I with America, or am I with the terrorists?

You know, they say there's no such thing as a stupid question.

(laughter)

That would be a stupid question. But it's ultimately not a stupid question as much as it is a deeply, deeply unpatriotic question. And the Kansas Republican Party ought to be ashamed of themselves.

Our democracy depends on open and honest debate, and this is nothing of the sort. What it is, I believe, is just a transparent attempt to change the subject.

If we talk about the economy, what happens? Republicans lose and Democrats win.

If we talk about Iraq, what happens? Republicans lose and Democrats win.

If we talk about health care, it's the same thing: Republicans lose and Democrats win.

So the last, best hope of the Kansas Republican Party is to use scary words and scary music and to try to scare the hell out of you and all of us.

And my friends, what I'm telling you today is that I will not, I will not be intimidated by what they're doing. And neither should you.

All we can say is "Wow!" Boyda's FISA speech draws 5,700 hits in 24 hours

Yesterday we posted a video of Congresswoman Nancy Boyda's speech to the Kansas Democratic Party State Convention. That speech railed against the Kansas & National Republican Parties for lying to the American public and trying to strong arm Congress into rubber-stamping a fundamentally flawed version of FISA.

We knew it was a fantastic speech, and we knew she was speaking for thousands of Kansans and millions of Americans with her condemnation of the politics of fear- but we didn't know how massive the response would be.

After about 12 hours, the video had been viewed just over 3,000 times. After 24 hours, it had been viewed nearly 5,700 times.

Yesterday, it was the 94th Most Viewed video under the category of News & Politics on YouTube. As of 6:15 p.m. tonight, it's stats for Sunday show it is the 53rd Most Viewed video, the 80th Top Rated, and 92nd on the "Top Favorites" list.

UPDATE: As of midnight, the stats stand thusly: 49th Most Viewed and 75th on the Top Rated list.

This kind of response to a message like this one is fantastic, and we're glad we were able to bring it to you. Congresswoman Boyda's message on FISA is the winning one, and the more people that hear her lay it out, the better.

We're deeply thankful for our friends at DailyKos who helped promote the video.

"Thanks, Nancy!"

In late January, we challenged all of you to create a YouTube video for Congresswoman Nancy Boyda. The YouTube revolution has changed the way people campaign, and we thought it was high time Congresswoman Boyda was part of that new wave of campaigning.

The response was great- so awesome we decided that we couldn't really post them all here for you to see. So, we got together and picked out a winner. It just so happens our winner was one of the very last one's received, and it's quite topical: It thanks Nancy Boyda for defending our civil liberties since she's been our member of Congress.

And, here it is...click on it a couple thousand times, and share it with your friends. And, most of all, do exactly what it says- say "thank you" to Congresswoman Boyda for all she's done for us!



Thanks again to the entrants...keep sending them in!

We challenge you to create the next great viral video

The Internet revolution has changed the way people run for office- nowadays, having a web site is almost as important has having a phone number. The Internet has provided amazing new ways to contact and connect with voters, be it through social networking sites like Facebook or Myspace, or via blogs just like this one- each new advent has expanded exponentially the ability for candidates or elected officials to spread their message and engage with the community.

There's another part of the revolution that hasn't made it into this race yet: the use of YouTube videos to show your support for your candidate of choice. Our personal favorite way folks nationwide have been showing their support for candidates is through song:

None of us here can sing...also, none of us play the guitar (though the harmonica is another thing entirely...). But we have a feeling someone out there in Internet land can sing, and can play the guitar, and feels the same way we do about the excellent job Nancy Boyda is doing in Congress.

So, today, we'd like to challenge you out there to create your own Nancy Boyda YouTube video. It doesn't have to be a song, it can be a testimonial, it can be anything- just let us know why you think Nancy Boyda is a great member of Congress, and why she's the best candidate to vote for in 2008.

Send your submissions (or a link to it) to boydabloc@gmail.com and we'll post any we receive (and that we like) here on the blog.

Here's another fun example of what you could do...though this is a little older: